To Make You Happy
by Blazichu
Summary: Through work and play, the good and bad, the past to the present and beyond; the safety and happiness of his family was Augustus's highest priority. A series of oneshots focusing on Augustus and Razputin Aquato.
1. Introduction

Well, I'm not going accomplish much in the way of "sticking with something" with this fic...but I find the _Psychonauts_ fandom severely lacking in father-son moments. This is an attempt to remedy that. They're short, and probably a little random, but hopefully they'll be sweet, too. (I apologize for the inclusion of several OCs, but I really had no choice, especially in Ona's case...)

* * *

As the circus closed down for the night, there was an undeniable feeling of excitement in the air. Not that this was unusual, by any means, but the normally jovial performers were completely animated tonight, because Augustus Aquato had relayed the message that his wife was finally going to be up and about, after several days of being conspicuously absent from their congregations… And while Ona was a natural attention magnet, she was completely bombarded with it as her co-workers caught sight of her.

"Shush" She murmured good naturedly, when she felt things were growing chaotic. "You'll frighten him."

Contrary to this statement, the infant she cradled merely looked confused, tilting his head to one side, and then looking back to his mother. Ona smiled down at him, shoulders shaking with gentle laughter.

"Well, he's certainly not shy." Commented the sword eater, chuckling.

One of the contortionists gave the man an exasperated shove. "Ignore sword breath over here, Ona. _I_ think he's precious."

There were several other general statements, but one in particular caught both of the new parent's attention.

"It's uncanny, but I get the feeling that he knows that we're talking about him."

From out of the corner of her eye, Ona looked over at Augustus, who met her eyes before closing his own and sighing. The acrobat certainly hoped this wasn't a sign of things to come; he didn't want such a treacherous life for his son. Taking a deep breath, he reopened his eyes, only to find a pair identical to his wife's staring back at him, upside down, questioning.

It definitely _wasn't_ a good sign, but…

In spite of his worry, Augustus chuckled, "What? Am I that entertaining, Razputin?"

…but he'd deal with _what_ happened _when_ it happened. Right now, he had other things to think about.


	2. Trouble Lurking

"_Shoot! Where'd he go?"_

Augustus stopped in his tracks at the mental query, knowing precisely what was going on. He sighed, not for the first time questioning the decision to teach Razputin _acrobatics_ of all things. Still, it was better than Ona's current task: teaching the boy to merely control his psychic abilities. Just this week he'd answered twenty separate thoughts, managed to light a stack of fliers on fire, and simply disappeared in broad daylight….

And it was only Monday.

Speaking of multiple offences, though…

"I know you're up there, Razputin." The elder psychic called into the shadowy upper section of the tent.

"…Darn it."

There was a telltale creaking that meant the trapeze was being swung back and forth, and Augustus was able to make out his son's silhouette moving from his seat on the swing's bar and flipping back to the tent's main support. Unfortunately, this didn't go off without a hitch…

"Whoa!"

His timing slightly off, Raz let go of the bar prematurely, and just barely managed to get a hold on the wooden platform he'd been aiming for. For a moment, Augustus was certain that his heart had stopped, and he was just about to call up to his son when the boy simply hauled himself on top of the platform. He knew he should be worried by the lack of concern that Raz was displaying for his own safety, but at the moment, he found himself thanking the powers that be for the cool head that his son had managed to keep.

Just a moment later, the child was back on solid ground, staring up at his father questioningly. "How'd ya know I was there?" He asked, green eyes wide with wonder.

For a moment, Augustus found himself speechless…but decided that words really weren't necessary. There was no doubt that Razputin could hear his racing thoughts, maybe even feel how scared he'd been (and, to be honest, still was). If the lesson didn't sink in this time, they'd have a nice long chat about it, then.

"Really, Razputin?" The man asked, instead, "It's the third time you've tried this past hour."

The child blinked in realization. "…guess so." He paused for a moment, clearly distracted by the heavier message being presented to him. "I'm gonna get extra practice sessions, huh?"

Augustus smiled, "Without a doubt, my little troublemaker."

There was another pause, "You're not gonna tell mom 'bout this, are you?"

"No." The elder replied instantly, "Definitely not."


	3. Breathe Again

Simply put, three-year-old Razputin Aquato was bored.

He'd been left in the caravan with explicit instructions to stay put, but there was only so much that could (or _would_) keep a child's mind entertained for any length of time… especially a mind that automatically tended to pick up on extra thoughts and impressions. He was working on it, he really was! …But his mom could only teach him so much, about keeping his mind…y'know, his own, because she wasn't a telepath.

That still confused the heck out of him. If his mom wasn't a telepath, why was he?

Raz didn't ponder this for long today, though. He'd been trying to figure it out for months already, and he knew that there wasn't any point in thinking about it without any new information.

The young psychic just clambered up onto his bed and sighed, staring blankly at the wall.

* * *

When Augustus returned to the caravan, he had not expected to find it empty… though it certainly shouldn't have surprised him.

"Ona?" He called after a beat, "Where's Razputin?"

The woman immediately snapped to attention, green eyes wide. "You mean he's not there?"

"I don't see- " He blinked in realization, deciding to try something else before inspiring a panic attack on his wife's part. "…Ah, give me a minute."

Lowering his mental defenses enough to cover the area immediately surrounding him, Augustus sighed in relief once he picked up the idle musings coming from inside the caravan.

It was safe to breathe again.

"Augustus?" Ona asked, poking her head into the rickety old structure after him, her brown hair falling into worried eyes.

"It's alright, I just didn't _see_ him." The man said pointedly.

Ona let out the breath she'd been holding, too.

"Huh?" Asked a small voice, sounding somewhat surprised… and more than a bit sleepy. "Oh. Hi."

Both parents looked to one another, then the seemingly empty space on the bed.

Alright. Invisibility. Just another thing to chalk up on the "to teach about" list…

Nobody ever said being a parent was easy… especially in cases like theirs.


	4. Eyes

It had started with the eyes.

Razputin had always taken after his mother where his personality was concerned, but physically, their eyes had been the one trait they shared. Even now, years after Ona's death, Augustus could still see a part of her in their son's eyes… which made the current situation rather ironic.

One other thing that had been apparent from the very beginning was that Raz was a telepath like his father, instead of an excelling clairvoyant, as Ona had been. But here the older psychic was, seeing the world from a much shorter viewpoint, due to the younger's creative usage of his abilities.

Experimentally, Augustus flexed his right hand, and was rather surprised when he was able to see the action himself. Sure, it was an interesting experience, but there was one thing that he simply didn't understand.

"_Why?"_

"Well, you asked for it." Raz replied, the effect that the comment created stunning his father into silence again. The Psychonaut rolled his eyes, which didn't help Augustus, any. "This is how you_ really_ look to me."

The elder acrobat remained silent for a spell, taking in the rest of what there was to be seen. He smiled upon reaching a conclusion.

"You really _do_ have your mother's eyes."

Immediately, Augustus found himself ejected from Raz's mind, apparently for the sole purpose of being able to see the semi-glare he was receiving from his son… and he found himself unable to resist the temptation of saying just one more thing.

"Her temper, too."


End file.
